Customer Reviews

The Marriage Contract

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aiden Black, the Earl of Tiebauld, is out hunting in Scotland for a wildcat when he stumbles across a hopeless woman who is about to be attacked by the object of his pursuit. He, of course, saves her and finds out that she's just been thrown out of her coach in some sort of accident and the driver is dead. What he does NOT know then is that she, Anne Burnett, is actually his wife, married to him by proxy back in England......

As you can see, the beginning of THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is action-packed. We soon are introduced to the main characters and their personalities are revealed clearly and efficiently by the end of chapter 1.

As is expected, Aiden does not want a wife, especially one he marries sight-unseen. Although he is attracted to Anne from the start, he tries to send her back. No, Aiden is not the kind of tortured hero who mistreats the heroine. But he does resort to some tactics to make Anne-the-Stubborn-English-Gentlewoman want to return to London of her own accord--he asks,for example, Anne to cook breakfast for a large group of ravenous guests, and wants her to clean the manure in the stable (reducing his lady to what, a servant?).......Aiden stikes me as one-dimensional: when he's not trying to drive Anne out, he is busy having the internal struggle of whether he should side with his Scottish friends in the up-coming rebellion or not. (Aside from this, Aiden seems to be just acting like Sir Bannor the Bold from Teresa Medeiros's CHARMING THE PRINCE--the two bear many similarities)

Frankly, Anne is the only character that keeps me reading THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT. Compared to Aiden, she is much more likable. She stands her ground and is quite reasonable ALMOST all the time (although it escapes me why, in one episode, she gets angry with Aiden when he buys her hair pins--could it be that she thinks he's just implying his disapproval of her messy hair---oh, come on!!) I finish the book mainly to see what happens to her in the end.

Overall, THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is a book that "flows," albeit awkwardly at times. I get the impression that this is the last of a trilogy by Cathy Maxwell, for near the end, out of nowhere, two of anne's best friends come to visit her and the three talks about some things they've done together, about which I haven't the faintest clue......and so you know, this book should not be read alone. The plot and characters probably will not stay with you for a long time, but if you have nothing else to read and don't want to get stuck with some "wall-bangers", you may want to try this book.

The beginning of The Marriage Contract promises an interesting premise in a unique Regency setting: In a last ditch effort to save herself from spinsterhood, Anne Burnett is married by proxy to a man she's never met, Aidan Black. A confirmed bachelor, he has chosen to live outside of society in a medieval castle, his hobby of sorts. From there, the story, though told adequately, unfolds predictably. Once the two meet, the heroine transforms the hero's unkempt living quarters into a real home, endears herself to his servants and subordinates, is beautiful and quite plucky. This suggests to our hero, required in romance to oppose losing his heart to a woman, that maybe he could use a wife after all.

There is no clearly defined reason why Anne and Aidan, both exceedingly nice, yet two-dimensional people, shouldn't be together. The conflicts that keep the couple from willingly falling into each other's arms amount to little more than this being the author's intention.

The Scotts versus English issue of the period fuels the most exciting situations and gives the characters something to do. But overall, the story telling is too simplistic, the writing style too elementary. The Marriage Contract reads as a young adult novel (albeit with one or two lackluster sex scenes) without challenging the more sophisticated literary palate of today's romance audience. Author Cathy Maxwell might do well to apply her solid, but take-no-chances writing ability to a different genre, one that caters to a preteen readership.

The Ton considers her two seasons in London as failures because Anne Burnett failed to make a match. Anne set an apparently impossible goal for an orphan like herself: she wanted to marry for love instead of securing her future.

Anne is forced to marry by proxy some obscure Scottish lunatic, Mad Earl Tiebauld, Aidan Black, whose sister arranged the marriage. Anne travels to her new home only to receive a very unfriendly welcome by her spouse, who not only rejects her, but he wants her back in London. However, the English transplant ignores the irritable Scot and soon her actions gain the respect and support of his clan. To her chagrin, Anne also captures Aidan's black heart just as she now loves him too, but will he wisely keep her at his side or madly cling to his notion she belongs in England?

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT is an amusing well written Regency romance starring two charming and not so mad (except in love) lead characters. When the story line stays with the main plot the battle of the sexes, it is an absolute delight that will provide fans with a powerfully pleasurable read. However, a political subplot, though cleverly inserted and actually tied back to the prime theme, will feel intrusive because the convincing main tale is so good and so much fun. Cathy Maxwell shows why her historicals are so well received by reviewers and fans with this fabulous Regency novel.

Harriet Klausner

With nothing better to do on a lonely Saturday night, I picked up "The Marriage Contract" that had been calling my name for some time. What a delight and surprise -- I could not put the book down. I had it read in 2 days flat and was left in a whirlwind of giddiness. Very funny with two very strong and independent personalities who learn to live and love one another against the odds. The beginning of the end was a little surprising and unexpected, but well worth the final AHhh of relief for both Anne and Aidan. A must read for anyone who wants to laugh, cry, and just plain out feel giddy with lovely feeling tickling your heart....

This book was very sweet and I found it took some entertaining and unpredictable turns in dialogue and events. What I found different about this heroine than in many other romance novels is that this heroine appears very ordinary, in terms of money (in fact sub-par), looks (ordinary by sheep society members), and perhaps even presence (she proves that wrong later on). But she manages to make her presence very powerfully felt throughout the novel. In other romance novels, we always read about the heroine being the most beautiful (all eyes turn to her when she enters the room, conversation stops, that sort of thing), or we read about the girl being gawky and awkward as a youngster, but suddenly blossoming into an arresting beauty when she matures(ugly duckling sort of thing). Or perhaps, they'll have a scene where the seemingly ordinary looking woman freshens up and dons a wonderful gown and jewels, displaying a regality that inspires heads to turn. But in this book, she doesn't have to be anything but herself the whole time, and she is still deemed desirable. She doesn't have to be fought over and desired by every man in order to be beautiful. She doesn't have to stop traffic, but you still see her as a beautiful woman. And one can tell that the attraction a man feels for her is through her cunning and grace. The man is pretty nice, too. I like that they get to know each other as they are married. It has a very nice romantic edge to it.

Anne isn't rich. Anne isn't beautiful. Anne isn't anything special, just a gentel orphan who nobody wants. So what's the big deal if she comprimises her pride for a proxy marriage to a madman? She'd have a home. She'd have a family. She's belong.
Adian isn't gentle. He's wild, unpredictable, and a total outcast. He turned his back on society in favor of his country home in Scotland.
Adian didn't want a wife, but his meddling sister gave him one. She whisked herself into his life and transformed his dirty, dingy castle into a warm and welcoming home. She passed his every test...except one.
She's English. He's Scottish, and at the verge of a war, he can't afford to trust her, but she trusts him, and she loves him. All she has to do is prove it.
An exciting but unconventional book. It keeps you on your toes, with wondeful passion, love and adventure.

The two protagonists are nicely written adult characters and the author does a good job of justifying the attraction between them. I enjoyed the characters' pasts- it made me quite sympathetic to them. The story line is kind of standard fare, the Scottish/English rebellions. I'm kinda tired of the clever rebel fox story line, and nothing new is contributed by this book. As usual, the English troup commander is painted as a one-dimensional all purpose bad guy. It's a nice story, competently written, lacking in over-the-top melodrama, but conversely, is not particularly memorable.

The plot is very promising and the first half of the book is quite decent, but the second half was just one big 'blah'. There is no real chemistry between Anne and Aiden and the first sex scene happens way, way into the book. This is not necessary bad, but there really was no spark between them and the author focuses on everything else than their relationship. As the other reviewer here suggests, it almost seems that the author was too uncomfortable to write about real feelings and sexual interactions. This book can be easily read by a 14 year old if you go and cross the two page sex scenes out.
Maybe it's just me, but I like my romance novels to have some steam and real passion.

Anne Burnett, an orphan, decides that after two unsucessful seasons with no marriage proposals a marriage by proxy to Adian Black, Earl of Theibauld is her only option. Unbeknownst to Adian, his sister has married him off to the english miss, who travels to the Scottish Highlands to give her husband the news. There, Anne meets the so called mad-earl and falls in love with his castle and people and eventually with the earl himself. Adain tries everything to get Anne to leave, including giving her impossible tasks, all of which she conquers -including his heart.

This was a really good story, but I only can give it four stars because after Adain declared his love -too soon for me- the story drags a bit. It was also pretty annoying that Anne didn't believe that he loved her and kept asking him over and over. And I didn't care for the place where they actually made love for the first time, a bit embarrassing and degrading for Anne if you ask me (even though I know they didn't really have a choice). I also thought that Adain was a bit wimpy when he complained that he didn't like killing people (bad guys) -took the edge off his character. The whole 'rebellion' part was very interesting and wrapped up in a nice bow at the end. I was really surprised that Maxwell was able to prevent getting Adain implicated and hung without some far-fetched ending. Over all a well written and solid read.

None of the other Maxwell stories compare to the story of Anne and Aiden.

The Beginning of this story reminds me a bit of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" with Anne finding Aiden's home in a state of such filth and disorder that she undertakes to set it to rights.

Aiden has similar ideas; he sets her to tough tasks in an attempt to cause her to leave, but is surprised to find she can handle it. He has to admit that she's capable and begins to fall for her.

Anne is an enjoyable heroine with a good attitude in a tough situation. When Aiden tries to make her leave she sticks to her guns and wins everyone over.

Aiden is also an enjoyable character who, although he is surprised and disgruntled over his sister's attempt to marry him off by proxy to Anne, his tender side always comes through. He is never cruel and is often compassionate and protective.

Once Anne and Aiden have it together in their personal lives the plot continues. They are dragged away by an interfering Englishman and Aiden's ingenious solution stayed with me for the longest time.

Definately a keeper.